Gene Hackman top ten

 

Okay enough time has passed (arguably) to do a Gene Hackman top ten. Everyone knows the actual good movies so I thought I'd do my top ten weird Gene Hackman movies.

1) Lucky Lady (1975) - Gene has a threesome with Burt Reynolds and Liza Minelli. That is not made up. Burt gives Gene's arm a fondle the morning after. You gentleman, Burt!

2) Two of a Kind (1982) - reteaming of Olivia Newton John and john Travolta that no one remembers except uber fans - Gene Hackman provides the voice of God and does very well

3) March or Die (1977) - Hackman made a few films for Lew Grade's company ITC in the late 70s- I enjoyed this french foreign legion tale where he is, as always, good

4) Bat21 (1988) for some reason this movie was on like every few months on Channel Ten on Friday/Saturday nights in the nineties - there was probably a bigger market for pudgy men in war movies than people realised - this film isn't that weird actually it was more weird how it was always on Channel ten

5) Zandy's Bride (1974) - when people talk about how great cinema was in the 70s it's always good to say "what like Zandy's Bride?" in the conversation to be annoying - Hackman is good as always

6) Superman 4: The Quest for Peace - everyone took the money on this one - read Daniel Kremer's Sidney Furie bio for the inside scoop on what went down

7) First to Fight/ Covenant with Death (mid 60s) - when Hackman was working his way up through the ranks he had to support actors like Chad Everett and George Maharis in films like these because they were what people thought film stars looked like and Hackman wasn't - he graduated to "supporting peopole who looked like film stars and actually were" like Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Jim Brown and Gregory Peck - but i guess you've got to get through Chad Everett first to get to Redford

8 ) Lilith (1964) forgotten film in which Jean Seaberg, who often sleepwalked through her roles, is terrific - so too is peter Fonda

9) Doctor's Wives (1971) - sleazy material with a director who had a class rep on TV and. a first rate cast - they manage to still make it sleazy material

10) Misunderstood (1984) - a male weepie with Hackman and Henry Thomas, coming off ET - i remember it made my cry as an eleven year old but I sense it may be terrible so am afraid to see it again